Prevalence of Illegal Advertising of Food and Drugs among Radio Broadcasts in Chiang Mai after Enforcing Legal Measures to the Problem

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of illegal advertising of food and drugs among radio broadcasts in Chiang Mai province after enforcement of legal measures in order to the problems. Method: The researcher recorded the programs broadcasted by 7 radio stations randomly chosen from 35 radio stations violating the law on food and drug advertising and having paid the fine at Chiang Mai Provincial Public Health Office. The programs in each radio station were recorded for 2 days from the start until the end of broadcasting with one randomly selected weekend day (Sunday or Saturday), and one randomly selected weekday. Results: Al 7 radio stations still violated the law on food and drug advertisements. Out of 7, 5 radio stations breached the law by advertising food products with the same brand names as those appeared in the illegal advertisements litigated in the past. The study identified 1,195 food and drug advertisements (in 14 station-days) with 340 (28.5%) being illegal. Food advertisements violated the laws more than drug advertisements. Among 863 identified food advertisements, 330 (38.2%) violated the law. Ten out of 332 drug advertisements violated the law (3.0%). The study classified advertisings into 2 types i.e., 1. live broadcastings which radio hosts or DJs played the songs and having live talks on information interested by the audiences, and 2. spot and repeated playing of recorded interviews of product users or description of product information. The study identified 971 spot advertisings (in 14 station-days), 228 of which (23.5%) were illegal. Among 224 advertisings in DJ live talk, 112 (50.0%) were illegal. Conclusion: After law enforcement by imposing the fine to radio stations violating the law on advertising, the problems have not completely disappeared. This study could not draw a conclusion on the effects of legal enforcement. However, the findings from this study can be used as baselines for monitoring the change in legal violations in the future when additional measures are implemented.